monday musings: on sugar: don't shoot the messenger

The quit-sugar message promoted by Sarah Wilson, David Gillespie, Robert Lustig is fairly unpalatable in that the majority of people want to have their cake and eat it too. Me included!

The language used in getting their message across ie. sugar is poison, addictive, toxic, sounds dramatic and some may wonder if it is necessary to use these words. Perhaps yes, perhaps no. I believe to some degree the language is tied up in marketing the message. The 'I Eat More Wholefoods' 8 week program doesn't sound as catchy as 'I Quit Sugar' does it? And titling a book 'Sweet Poison' is clever word play and makes good marketing sense: there isn't meant to be anything sweet about poison now is there? The title alone is cause for intrigue.

I was prompted to write this post after reading a series of posts on the quit sugar topic. First I read two well considered posts on the sugar topic over on naturopath Georgia Harding's blog, Well Nourished go here and here. Then I read Sarah Wilson's post about her 'lapse' when she ate two chocolate croissants, I read the post and each of the comments. A number of commenters on Sarah's post made reference to how banning certain foods or ingredients such as sugar can, for some people, lead to a cycle of binging and purging and an emotional and physical roller-coaster, that for some can be a symptom of an eating disorder. This thought has crossed my mind a number of times when considering the quit sugar message. I don't think in any way though it is Sarah's intention to set people up for developing or fuelling an eating disorder.

There is a problem though as I see it and that is the quit sugar program is promoted as 'one size fits all' so to speak, when in fact it doesn't really account too much for individual psychology and physiology. Sarah's reason for quitting sugar was to address her auto-immune disorder, from what I have read in the comments of Sarah's blog people go on her program for a wide range of reasons, including weight loss, and what might be working for Sarah may not be right for others and can result in a feeling of 'failure' for some that can then feed into self-esteem and body image issues. For another take on this aspect read this post on Mamamia.

I agree that in no amount does refined sugar provide nutritional value, however by my observation sugar is not addictive to every single person. There are people who can take or leave sweet food, people who can open a packet of biscuits or chocolate eat one and still have the packet in the cupboard a week later untouched. These people exist really they do!

I have written before that the positive side to the quit sugar message is that it is raising people's awareness about hidden sugars and encouraging people to include more real food and less processed food in their diet which is precisely the way to go for good health and longevity there is no arguing about that.

It was a National Geographic article Sugar Love (a not so sweet story) found via Georgia's blog that made the most impact on me. At the end of reading it I felt sad. Sad about the children included in the article who represent a generation of children being fed processed food and the diet related diseases and shorter lifespans they will experience as a result. I also feel motivated. Really motivated, to continue adding my thoughts to the sugar issue and to keep on finding ways to encourage and support people to eat real food and to especially feed their children real food even when it means going against the tide of a massive, dominating fake food culture.

Love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

the sugar thing

Even though I gave up sugar in all its forms for 12 weeks last year and continue to have minimal sugar in my diet, there is something about the media spin on the 'quit sugar' movement that annoys me and I can't quite put my finger on what it is. I tuned into 60 Minutes 'Sweet Poison' story last night with interest to see their angle on the sugar thing.

It made for interesting viewing featuring interviews with American Endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig, Sarah Wilson an Australian blogger and author of the ebook 'I Quit Sugar', Aimee Gibbs mother-of-three who quit sugar, lost over 20 kilos and in doing so reduced her risk of diabetes and heart disease, and Professor Jennie Brand-Miller  an Australian nutritionist who introduced the Glycaemic Index to Australians.

There were a couple of moments in the story that made me cringe, such as the final question to Aimee Gibbs that was something along the lines of 'does it feel good to know you'll live to see your daughters get married?' I know I shouldn't be surprised. I think it was listening to Aimee's story that brought me closer to seeing what annoys me about the way 'the sugar thing' is discussed in the main. Aimee explained that before quitting sugar, she would in one week eat four litres of ice cream and 7 or 8 blocks of chocolate. By not eating those foods, yes she is taking sugar out of her diet but she is also taking out large quantities of highly processed foods that contain a vast range of nutritionally bankrupt ingredients, sugar being the main one.

I think I'm coming to the conclusion that while I agree wholeheartedly that over-consumption of sugar is a massive contributor to ill health, I think the message should be to reduce consumption of all processed foods. Real food, vital food comes from the earth not from factories.

In this Australian Guide to Healthy Eating written by The Department of Health and Ageing, it states 'consume only moderate amounts of sugars and foods containing added sugars'. What is a moderate amount? The good folk working in these Departments may be nutritionists and scientists but their guidelines are open to interpretation and are not guiding people to good health.

Did you watch 60 Minutes? What did you think? Where are you all at with the sugar thing?

Speaking of nutrition, these sites are recent finds via The Little Gnomes Home and I thought you may find them interesting too:

Nutrition by Nature
Wheat Belly

Look forward to reading your comments on sugar.

say goodbye to sweet drinks

A friend recently kicked her daily soft drink habit after deciding if she wasn't going to give soft drink to her children she wasn't going to drink it either. Yay for her! Hearing this turned my thoughts to sweet drinks - soft drinks or as they're called in other parts of the world soda or pop. And fruit juice fits the same sweet drink category.

Before getting into the sugar and fizz of this topic, I want to share a snapshot of my own continuing wholefood evolution because I don't intend anything I write here to sound judgemental or induce guilt in readers for where they're at on their road to eating and living well.

I grew up in a single parent household where my mum had a real interest in cooking but like many working mothers, single or partnered, she was often exhausted and resorted to take away meals easily. She was 'doing her best'. Meals my Mum prepared and taught me to prepare could be described as Mediterranean - in warmer months Greek salad every night with fish, chicken or , in cooler months soups, stews, lasagne, and some meat and three veg. My brother and I developed a taste for garlic, olive oil, olives, fetta, calamari, spanakopita, good bread and the like at an early age. The flip side of all that goodness was sweet breakfast cereal, sweet biscuits, potato chips, fruit drink concentrate, margarine, chocolate chip muesli bars, ice cream were all brought home in the weekly grocery shop and take away dinners happened about twice a week, including the fast food variety.

Soft drink though was a no go. Our neighbours bought a crate of soft drink from the Loy's soft drink truck that drove around the neighbourhood selling bottles of the colourful, fizzy, sugar laden pop door-to-door. My brother and I were fascinated that our friends were allowed to drink it and we weren't. During my teenage years I never had a taste for coke or lemonade, I did though drink flavoured mineral water as I somehow thought that to be more virtuous than soft drinks and actually prefered the fruity flavour over the straight sweet stuff.

These days, given how widely publicised the sugar content of soft drinks is I can't understand that people still drink the stuff. And seeing a toddler in a pram drinking a can of coke is not a good look, or more importantly a good health foundation.

And if you're thinking fruit juice is a better option because its made from fruit, I'd say its time to re-think that too. Eating fruit and benefiting from the fibre is better than drinking the juice alone. Fruit sugar is still sugar.  This article highlights how fruit sugar is harmful to growing teeth. I occasionally bought organic apple juice to have at home, but since our sugar detox I have stopped buying it. If my children are offered fruit juice at a friend's house or from time to time when we are out shopping or at a cafe they enjoy fruit juice then.

Water is the best option for children (& adults) and the information below shows why.

The approximate number of teaspoons of sugar in the following drinks:

250 ml tetra pack of Ribena - 9
600ml bottle of soft drink - 20
250ml bottle of apple juice drink - 7
300ml carton flavoured milk - 7
375ml bottle of soft drink - 10
375ml can of flavoured mineral water - 11

taken from Go For Your Life 

Glass of water anyone? We'll save the filtered water discussion for another day.

sweet poison

Last year Pete and I gave up sugar in all its forms for 12 weeks (also gave up caffeine, wheat, dairy, alcohol and fruit). The first month saw me become one very irritable on edge mama. I surprised myself. I had no idea how addicted I was to my sugar treats. Being a wholefood kinda gal, my sugar treats were not in the form of lollies or bakery cakes, they were things like dried fruit, date rolls, chai with honey, rice cakes with tahini and honey - sugar none the less. Giving them up cold turkey gave me a tiny glimpse of what it must be like to give up a drug. I did feel remarkably clear minded and instead of my four o'clock energy slump I still had energy at seven o'clock when normally I'd be half asleep putting the boys to bed.

Now that I've had the experience of being clear of sugar and all the other items listed above, I am even more deliberate about what I choose to eat than I was before. Honey and dried fruits are now too sweet for my new sugar free taste buds. Raw chocolate is my new treat, and most weekends we choose a sweet creation that I enjoy baking with the boys. Most often that is flourless chocolate cake!

During the sugar free time I discovered a book that has been in the media a fair bit, Sweet Poison  is the title, written by David Gillespie. David describes himself as a recovering corporate lawyer. He is the father of six young children (including one set of twins) and was 40kg overweight. That is until he set out to research why he and so many in his generation were fat. The result of his research is losing the extra weight and a best selling book. For me Sweet Poison wasn't an easy read, it is very textbooky, the charts and science took some concentrating for my brain. A worthy read though for anyone interested in the effect of sugar on the body and ways to reduce it in your diet.

This Sunday March 4th on Channel 7 program Sunday Night there is a story about sugar and the latest research and science about its effects on health. Former rugby player Peter FitzSimons shares his experience in the story of quitting rugby, gaining weight and then quitting sugar and losing weight and gaining good health. I'm not in the habit of recommending commercial TV but I thought anyone interested in the sugar debate would appreciate the heads up. I take no responsibility for the quality of the reporting!

Giving up sugar is not about deprivation. It is about making better informed choices. Some friends think I am a bit extreme in my approach to food (of course I don't see it that way!) I say many people don't really take account of what they are eating and how much. Many of my friends like to say 'everything in moderation' or 'middle way' but one person's moderation is another person's extreme. So if you're up for raising your awareness I suggest for one week keep track of the amount of sugar you and your family eat. Every time you eat or drink something sweet stick a sticker on a piece of paper or draw a star or whatever marker you choose. At the end of the week (or month would be a better time frame) you may be surprised at your sugar intake. Once you have a really accurate picture of what you are eating you can then make changes or say confidently and truthfully I'm really happy with what we're eating.

If you're interested in reading more about quitting sugar read Sarah Wilson's blog , she has also written an ebook 'I Quit Sugar'  (I haven't read it) and Maria Hannaford writes about her experience of giving up sugar on her blog Econest . David Gillespie's blog Raisin-Hell can be found here.

Next week the boys and I are heading to Byron Bay to spend a week with dear friends who became parents to twins five months ago. While we are away I have great plans of sharing all that I love about Byron with you, we'll see how that pans out between cups of tea, enjoying babies and entertaining four children under 5.

Happy weekend to you.

forbidden fruit?

Cherries, peaches, plums and grapes, raspberries, blueberries, watermelon who can resist the cool fruits of summer? Well, since completing a 12 week detox under the guidance of Dr Zenon Gruba that excluded fruit from my diet I am re-thinking the best time of day to eat fruit.

Following the detox Dr Gruba advises eating fresh fruit only in hot weather and only before breakfast, never after a meal. The reason for this is the food you eat in a meal – meat, grains, vegetables etc; - take longer to digest than fruit and the fruit can ferment easily leading to bloating and flatulence.

In traditional Chinese Medicine fruit is said to be cooling, hence the recommendation to eat it in warm weather. In cool weather, Chinese Medicine practice is to cook fruits in season and eat them warm.

While we’re talking fruit, let’s talk about fruit juice. If you juice fruit at home pay attention to the amount of pulp you throw in the bin (or compost), that’s the fibre you are missing out on. Better to drink some water then eat the fruit.

Bottled fruit juice is almost a post on its own but I’ll cover it here, it is something I generally steer clear of and give it to my children only occasionally. Even if you can find bottled juice that is organic and contains no ADDED sugar, fruit juice still contains sugar. I hear you say ‘but its natural sugar’ sugar is sugar. Children are happy to drink water unless they are given juice from a young age then they will ask for juice, stick to water and protect your child’s teeth from tooth decay.

Fruit contains fructose, a simple sugar found in most plants. In our ancestors day fruit was scarce and strictly local and seasonal. Today fruit is picked early, ripened in a cool store and transported all around the country or world and often eaten out of season. A couple of pieces of fruit eaten on their own is not going to overload your system with fructose, however fructose is an ingredient in many processed foods (soft drinks, breakfast cereals, yoghurt, ice cream to name a few) so people are inadvertently overloading their bodies with fructose. Another reason to avoid processed foods. Our bodies are not designed for a high sugar diet. Fructose is processed in the liver and any overload is stored as fat. For more information about fructose and sugar and the effects is has on our health read this article .

break the farce

Finding a breakfast cereal free of sugar of any kind is almost impossible. Today I may have done the impossible. Artisse organic cinnamon spelt flakes do contain barley malt extract, however it is the second last ingredient listed instead of the second as is the case with most cereals containing sugar, and there is less than 1 gram of sugar in the whole 300g box (pictured below). I can live with that. I found this in the health food aisle of Coles supermarket. (Does anyone else find it curious that there is a health food aisle? What does that say about the rest of the food sold in supermarkets?)

There’s a lot riding on a nutritious breakfast, it sets you up – or down – for your day. Who really thinks eating sugar for breakfast is a good idea? I’d say no one but really most people opt for convenience over truth.

Food manufacturers push health claims on the front of the packet, while the truth is in the fine print, the ingredients label.

So, what to do?

Avoid buying packaged breakfast foods that goes for cereal, breakfast bars and breakfast drinks.

Instead, go for the whole grain – oats, quinoa, amaranth, brown rice – and make porridge. A TEASPOON of honey or maple syrup on a wholefood porridge is better than any packaged cereal.

Poached or boiled eggs on good quality bread are a good option.

Avocado with a squeeze of lemon juice on toast.

The weather is warming up here in Oz making fruit salad a good start to the day with some whole grain toast and nut spread.

If you do buy cereal look out for these words: maltodextrin, corn syrup, fructose, glucose, sorbitol, high fructose corn syrup, rice syrup, sucrose, maltose....to name a few other names for sugar. Not to forget maple syrup and honey.

While we’re at the breakfast table, so to speak, watch out for other high sugar hijackers like yoghurt and fruit juice. Much healthier to eat a piece of fruit than drink a juice. Real yoghurt does not contain sugar. Try natural yoghurt with no sugar and stir in some fresh fruit and if you must so the kids will eat it add a small spoon of honey. Sugar is addictive. If you are making changes remember you are weaning yourself and your family off something you have been consuming for years. It will take time and possibly a few tantrums but they will pass. If the sugar options are not in the house they can’t be eaten and they can’t be the trigger for a fuss.

For readers with new babies – congratulations! – I’d recommend not getting yourself into a situation where your child is demanding sugar by not introducing sugar to their diet right from the start. My two year old loves natural yoghurt because he has never eaten yoghurt with sugar in it – a very strong case of what they don’t know about can’t hurt them! 

I’d love to hear about your favorite real food breakfast.